Yavneh defeated Lewisville Temple Christian 69-46 Thursday evening On Senior Night. The win ends Yavneh’s season with a record of 16-12 and marks the second straight season ending with a victory.
Although the game had long since been decided, Bulldog Senior captain Sam Pulitzer had finally finished his body of work with a put-back late in the game. The basket gave Pulitzer a career-high 17 points in his final game. For a game with a margin of 23 points, there was no shortage of drama to wrap up the ’06-’07 season. Featuring a lineup laced with Seniors Aviv Schor and Charlie Saginaw to join Pulitzer, the Bulldogs were ready from the opening tip-off. It was Schor that shot out of a rocket in the opening minutes in his final game. Scoring four instant points and six overall in the first quarter, the second-year Senior Schor played with a sense of urgency. Lewisville TC held their biggest lead of the game at 7-2 but Yavneh quickly responded with a 10-0 run. Junior Erez Krengel streaked to the basket and Pulitzer recorded 7 of his 17 points in the opening period to jumpstart the Bulldogs. With 2:58 remaining in that first quarter, Willis Reed might as well have hopped onto the court. Making a somewhat unexpected return in the season’s final hour, “The Jumpin Junior”, aka David Naxon made an appearance. The impact was immediate as he quickly willed himself to the free throw line for 2 points and hit a quick follow-up field goal to net 4 points in half a minute. LTC would battle back with a 6-0 run of their own but Yavneh controlled the first quarter 22-15. Neither team featured much defense at all early in the game as the scoreboard quickly tallied numbers. Pulitzer took one of two final charges of his career early in the second quarter, cementing a mark as the all-time Yavneh leader in charges taken. Fellow Senior Charlie Saginaw followed suit as well, creating an additional turnover by sacrificing himself. Naxon used the middle part of the second quarter to announce his re-arrival officially. A great pass to Junior Michael San Soucie and a follow-up basket on his own missed three pointer dazzled the crowd, building a 28-17 lead. The lead was only 34-26 at the half but Yavneh was in control and left LTC few answers at either end of the court. The Bulldogs were scary at full strength for only the fourth full game all year. With 3:58 remaining in the third quarter, Yavneh managed to maintain a 14 point lead and was in certain control. Freshman Miles Pulitzer found his brother for another deuce to push the lead to 16. This reverse foreshadowing was more than touching as the torch was being passed for the ’07-’08 season. Junior Bradley Alhadef helped the cause with a big three pointer to cap the third quarter lead at 50-35. A late LTC run kept things within reach at 54-43 to end the third quarter but Yavneh would apply the clamps from there. The opening two minutes of the season’s final period saw the Bulldogs get outscored 2-0 to condense Yavneh’s lead to 54-45. Lewisville would score only 1 point the rest of the way. While the Bulldogs were finishing the season with a 15-1 run, they recognized each Senior with a nice ovation. Pulitzer’s came seconds after he achieved that career-high 17 points. It has been a long time since a player so thoroughly respected and understood the history of Yavneh basketball. Pulitzer was able to lead his team with that in mind and become a true scoring threat in the process. Naxon returned to action with a game-high 21 points and 15 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. Senior Aviv Schor tallied 14 points of his own to end his 2-year career, proving once again that he could score and rebound in bunches at just about any time. The final Senior, Charlie Saginaw, finished his one Yavneh season as a real physical force down low, particularly in his ability to rebound for an otherwise rebound-deficient team at times.
Yavneh (16-12) will face their biggest off-season in over 4 years. The potential is there for this team to be something super-special!! The Jumpin Junior will be back as a —-TBD “Senior”, “Ice” will be a dangerous force for any opponent, guards like Alhadef, Shawel, and Zalstein will be a year better, and the new Sophomores will be high school veterans. Adding two or three incoming Freshmen, including highly touted Elan Kogutt, could make this team a true Sarachek contender once again.
The Kennel Report, 2 complete seasons old, is written by Zack Pollack